I've noticed there are some folks writing at length here on their experiences playing games, so this felt like a good place to ask. Do you take notes as you play, and/or after each session, then write out full thoughts upon completing a game?
Or are your reflections compiled only after finishing a game, no notes?
I've dabbled with different approaches, and haven't really settled on a consistent process personally.
I keep a gaming journal, but it’s only for thoughts afterward. I keep it much simpler than I used to, as there’s a point where writing at length becomes work, and gaming shouldn’t be work. That’s the same reason I don’t keep a backlog. In my longer posts here and elsewhere, it tends to just be stream-of-consciousness writing derived from those journals entries, just cleaned up a little bit.
As for note-taking, I will almost never take notes on opinion/criticism during a play. Pretty sure that again, it’d feel like work if I took notes. I also rarely write about games I don’t finish unless I’ve played most of them (I tend to bounce off a lot of games lately). Other than that, my journal has the occasional random thought on larger industry trends, or a quick sort, like a toplist or the latest tier-making meme I saw. It’s interesting to see how my tastes change over the years.
I personally like to write some general things I end up enjoying about a game, while I’m playing (or during pauses), mostly because I plan on making a YT channel, but also because I like to leave useful reviews on GOG and Steam. The thing about making notes during early on is that you can check them later and see if anything overstayed its welcome. It’s also great to remember story details, if they’re relevant
The good thing about simply writing down, even generic notes like “good music” and “controls really well” can help create that memory path to the actual experience. You don’t need to be a “critic” to understand when something is great, good, bad or “just there”, but it can take some skill to write in a way that makes sense to other people, so writing about the games you’ve been playing is a good way to train that!